An excellent piece in the current edition of the New Yorker examining whether or not Boehner will be able to control the Tea party faction within the Republican party. This is obviously excellent for the Unit 4 work on Congress that we will do after January but it is also good in terms of divisions … Continue reading →

Safe seats are an undemocratic side effect of FPTP. The fact that British general elections under FPTP are decided by a few swing voters in marginal seats is not the most democratic way to elect our government. Neither does it encourage turnout in the safe seats. This Democratic Audit pamphlet examines how FPTP creates safe … Continue reading →

The LSE Politics Blog seems to know that you are all about to start revising electoral systems as it has a brilliant post this week outlining the workings of each of the electoral systems. If you are ensure of the mechanics of the five systems used in the UK this is an excellent place to … Continue reading →

Tensions within the coalition have been increasing in recent months and the friendly relationship evident in the Number 10 Rose Garden back in May 2010 seems like a life time away. There have been a couple of good articles looking at the tensions in the coalition over recent months. This piece in the Telegraph … Continue reading →